Wednesday, July 06, 2016

We are finally reaching a point in schools where the divides between students, devices, and connectivity are closing. One of the last divides to close is easy access to instructional resources as many schools still use outdated, static, and heavy textbooks. With the onset of easy-to-use tools like Google Classroom for distribution of content, teachers need to be on the lookout for easily distributable open resources. Summer is the ideal time to start pulling some of this material together. Phil Lacey has pulled together acatalog of many online repositories where teachers can get started. One of my favorites is CK12 which is now easy to share with students using Google Classroom (here are instructions). For schools looking to move in this direction check out the #GoOpen resources provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Here, John King explains: "Openly licensed educational resources can increase equity by providing all students, regardless of zip code, access to high-quality learning materials that have the most up-to-date and relevant content." As educators, our job is to remove barriers and #GoOpen is working to break down one of the most ingrained curricular divides in schools.